In recent years, the practice of yoga (and many other floor-based stretching and exercise practice) have proliferated at an incredible pace, particularly as individuals, both young and old, realize the profound health benefits. In general, yoga is a combined and integrated physical, mental, and spiritual practice or discipline. The origins of yoga speculatively date back many centuries to areas of Asia. The practice of yoga was brought to the attention of an educated Western public in the mid-19th century, along with related topics of Indian philosophy. Arguably, the current explosion in the popularity of yoga began in the 1980's, and is often practiced as a purely physical system of health exercises outside of and unconnected to any religious denomination.
There is also a significant physical exercise aspect to the practice of yoga. These physical exercises, which are beneficial for expanding the balance, flexibility and range of motion of a practitioner's body, are typically practiced upon a relatively thin resilient mat supported upon a hard ground or floor surface, such as a wood floor. Many of the dynamic movements and static poses necessarily require utilization of one or both hands to support at least a portion of the practitioner's body, during body movements (i.e., dynamic exercises and stretches) and during stationary poses. Unfortunately, for individuals having preexisting medical conditions and ailments, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis and physical injuries, for example, many floor-based exercises, yoga movements and poses, and the like, although performed on a mat can cause significant pain. As a result, many individuals, for whom yoga would be an incredibly useful tool for reducing, if not completely eliminating, the corresponding debilitating effects relating to various preexisting ailments, conditions, and injuries of the hands and wrists, are unable to practice yoga and other related floor-based exercises.
Another issue that is commonly encountered during yoga and other floor-based exercise practices is inadvertent slipping of the hands. In addition to placing a practitioner's palms on the surface of the floor or, more typically, a floor-covering mat, to support a portion of the body, combinations of lateral and longitudinal movement of the practitioner's body often place directional stresses on the hands, fingers and wrists, of the users that are typically only counteracted by the forces of friction between the mat surface and the portion of the user's hands in direct contact with the mat. However, this frictional contact and resistance for supporting the user's body during yoga exercise, or non-yoga specific related stretching and exercise movement, is often inadequate. The potential for hands slipping is further exacerbated by perspiration formed on the palms and sweat dripping off of the body and onto the underlying mat surface. This can cause undesirable hand slipping, which can result in the potential for serious hand, wrist, arm and other bodily injuries. Accordingly, there has been an ongoing effort, often by practitioner's themselves, to devise products to minimize; and preferably avoid, hand slipping, as well as devices aimed at reducing stress on the hands and wrists. Still, there is a need for a single system that could effectively address both of these commonly encountered issues. It would be highly desirable to provide such a system that is lightweight, portable, easy to use, and lends itself to easy and efficient manufacture to enable the production of an affordable, cost-effective system. With regard to yoga, many individuals use so-called “yoga blocks,” which function as props to comfortably support individuals whom are not able to complete a full stretch or pose while attempting to maintain a desired bodily alignment. For example, blocks are great for standing poses in which one hand is on the floor, such as Ardha Chandrasana. The blocks provide a raised surface for the user to help get into postures safely and with proper alignment, allowing the user to experience the pose and its benefits even if, for example, the user's hamstrings or shoulders are tight. They help to make yoga accessible to beginners and those experiencing injury or other physical limitations. They can also help bring awareness to the body to feel how to properly engage and support muscles in a specific pose. Therefore, it would be highly desirable and incredibly beneficial to provide a system that not only includes a component that addresses hand slipping and painful pressure upon the hand and wrist, but also is adapted to be quickly and efficiently engaged with a resilient block component to provide the aforementioned added benefits of a yoga block.
In other instances where individuals are able to achieve a desired dynamic or static movement without the need for a block, it is still common for one or both of an individual's hands to slip against an underlying exercise mat or other surface. Or, even where hand slipping is not an issue, it is still a common occurrence for individuals to deal with the aforementioned hand and wrist pain. In such instances, it would be desirable to utilize a resilient hand pad component without the use of a complementary block or similar structure. Preferably, the resilient hand pad provides the dual functions of preventing hand slippage and providing some give to alleviate hand- and wrist-related injuries.